Trevor Rabin and Harry Gregson-Williams’ score for “Armageddon” marks an important milestone in film history, heralding the arrival of what is now considered the predominant “sound” of Hollywood motion pictures. Phrases such as “typical Media Ventures/Remote Control score/sound” can most likely be traced back to “Armageddon” and similar, earlier efforts of the now dominating Hans Zimmer, spawning a feverous fan base the likes of which had never been seen before in Hollywood composers. Although the merits of that particular composer and the bulk of work from him and his legion of Remote Control prot�g�s continues to polarise most film score communities, many agree that “Armageddon”, while firmly a product of this sound, marks one of the better efforts associated with it.

Unfortunately, the album situation for “Armageddon” has, since the films inception, been a befuddled and confusing mess. Upon the film’s release, the obligatory soundtrack album (including songs from and inspired by the film, along with two score tracks) and a 30 minute promo from Rabin were made available. Considering Rabin and Gregson-Williams score often toiled away in the background throughout most of the film, this meant the majority of the almost two hours of music written for it (excluding alternate takes and music for the trailers) were missing from the official soundtrack releases. Thankfully, a proper score album featuring 50 minutes of music was released later in the year. Putting together music from all of the different official releases gives us about an hour of score-only music, less than half of what was written for the film.

Bootlegs began surfacing at the dawn of the new millennia, and what expansive bootlegs they were. Most of them ran for over two hours, and featured the bulk of the music heard in the film, as well as a handful of alternative takes and trailer music, at a quality comparable to the official releases. Over the years, fans with keen ears determined some music on the official releases were left out of the bootlegs, and amended them onto their personal collections. Needless to say, this made the issue even more complicated, as compilations which only differed by a single track or two flooded the sharing market. Trying to figure out which cues were truly new additions or duplicate files under alternate names became a tedious chore.

Having spent more time than should be necessary examining music from the official and unofficial sources, I can finally present my findings here, available to any and all fans of this score, to do as they please.

Included here is a reupload of Yannis’ version of the score (although I highly recommend you go and thank him for the upload in the original thread here (http://forums.ffshrine.org/f92/trevor-rabin-harry-gregson-williams-armageddon-complete-120687/#post2096928)), as well as a handful of alternate cues which I thought were important enough to mention but not important enough to include in Yannis’ compilation. Also included are a handful of amazing alternate album covers made for this score (of which I’ve included my favourite at the top of this post).

UPDATE: I've reuploaded the above with a more streamlined version along the lines of my "Brave" upload, which can roughly be broken up into three sections: the "complete" score [320kbps] (as detailed in my analysis below), the alternates of dubious quality [VBR] that I don't feel are important enough to incorporate into the upload proper, and all of the songs from the album [FLAC] (whether they appeared in the film or not). EDIT: I've removed the album songs from this upload as I didn't view them as necessary, and they were taking up almost half the space of the upload (750MB down to around 350MB). Most of them hardly appear in the film at all and is more of the case where a bunch of famous artists come up with songs only tangentially related to the film itself. I left Aerosmith's "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" in however as that featured prominently in the film and even in some of the cues. The score is no longer in FLAC, but has been converted to 320kbps to eliminate the hassle of deleting and moving tracks around as per my instructions below (you can still download the FLAC version here (http://forums.ffshrine.org/f92/trevor-rabin-harry-gregson-williams-armageddon-complete-120687/#post2096928) but it will require some tinkering). The first section, the "complete" score, is still in my opinion the best possible presentation of music from this film, but the other two sections are included for prosperity (if you require absolutely everything). Allow me to reiterate the purpose of this thread; not to impose the best possible version or dictate what should and shouldn't be included. Rather, it is simply to analyze what is available and allow you to come to your own conclusions as to what you feel would be the best way to listen and enjoy this music. That's really what it comes down to; enjoyment. Some people are perfectly happy with a streamlined presentation of score highlights, others play the role of the completionist, and some still forge their own path somewhere in between. There's no right or wrong way about it. These threads are simply designed to equip you with the knowledge necessary to decide for yourself how to go about enjoying scores such as these. With that said, I hope that you do enjoy this bombastic and fun score!

UPDATE (11/12/2016): I was looking through my old files and found another version of this score in lossless, including a FLAC version of "Fallen Comrades". Because of that, I can now re-release this score entirely in FLAC! I've retagged everything to correspond to the previous release, so basically it's the same contents as before, only with a lossless upgrade! I don't know how to check whether these tracks are truly lossless, but to my ears they sound fine. I left a few bonus cues in as well, although the quality of those tracks aren't lossless. I'm unsure as to where I got this release from, since it's been so long since I got it. Credit to whomever I got it from in the first place. I also removed the 4shared link since it appears only users with an account can download from there anymore. The list of good file sharers shrinks once more. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy!

If you want to check out the absolute, most complete version of this score, featuring some cues of questionable quality, check out drhousetapachula’s compilation here (Thread 114237).

tl;dr: Yannis’ lossless upload is, for most intents and purposes, the best sounding and (second) most complete compilation of music from this film. The inclusion of the track “Fallen Comrades” (at this point in time only available at 320kbps, not lossless) in the place of “Survivors” AND the exclusion of the redundant "Long Distance Goodbye / Landing (Alternate)" leaves one with a 97.4% (I calculated) complete version of the score, clocking in at 143 minutes in length (although you may want to rename some of the tracks to those presented below for clarity). Basically, just follow the track list presented in my analysis below and you're golden. For reasons detailed in my lengthy analysis of each cue below, attempting to compile a 100% complete version of the score is not recommended (nor humanly possible), but don’t let me stop you.

ANALYSIS:

* - only available on bootlegs

** - also available on Trevor Rabin promo album

*** - also available on commercial score

**** - also available on commercial album

***** - only available on Harry Gregson-Williams promo album


CD 1:

1. Prologue - 65 Million Years Later (4:51)* - Apart from being called "Main Title" or just "Prologue" in some bootlegs, this track is the same across all bootlegs.
2. DEFCON 3 (0:24)* - Also known as "Defcon 3" or "Boffer Reports In". No differences across bootlegs.
3. Meteor Shower (2:16)* - The first of two known versions of the "Meteor Shower" cue. A custom back cover lists a third version of the cue at around a minute long; no evidence suggests that this third version exists.
4. The Hubble (0:42)* - No differences across bootlegs.
5. 'Global Killer' (0:41)* - No differences across bootlegs.
6. Finding Grace (1:06)*** - No differences across bootlegs.
7. Meet Harry Stamper - Oil Rig (2:00)**/*** - Also known as just “Oil Rig” on the commercial score. An extended three minute version is available on the promo album titled “The Oil Well”.
8. 'We Drill' (1:37)* - No differences across bootlegs.
9. Call To Duty (1:14)* - No differences across bootlegs.
10. Harry Arrives At NASA (1:02)*** - No differences across bootlegs.
11. Zero Barrier (2:25)* - Also known as "Top Secret" and, rather amusingly, "Zero Burier". No differences across bootlegs.
12. Freedom Crew (0:47)* - No differences across bootlegs.
13. 5 Words (1:38)*** - No differences across bootlegs.
14. Demands (1:41)**/*** - The commercial score version of this cue is slightly shortened by twenty seconds.
15. X-71 (1:33)*- No differences across bootlegs.
16. Weightless Simulation - Dottie (0:39)* - Sometimes known as just "Weightless Simulation". One of two versions of the "Weightless Simulation" cue, this being the longer version.
17. Flight Plan (0:39)* - Sometimes known as "Flight Plan - Zero Barrier". No differences across bootlegs.
18. Love Theme (1:03)* - Also known as "Love Nest". "Armageddon Piano" is sometimes considered an alternate to this cue. Another, longer version of this cue is floating around, but it is unknown whether it was performed by anyone actually attached to the score of if it's fan-performed.
19. Armadillo (1:16)*** - No differences across bootlegs.
20. Underwater Simulation (2:13)**/*** - No differences across bootlegs.
21. Leaving (2:32)*** - Sometimes placed after the "Animal Crackers" cue. Apart from that, no differences across bootlegs.
22. Animal Crackers (2:35)* - Also known as "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing", but not to be confused with the Aerosmith song. The commercial album version of this cue is longer, contains dialogue and has some different orchestrations.
23. Destruction Of Shanghai (2:54)* - Also known as just "Shanghai". No differences across bootlegs.
24. Harry & Grace Make Peace (1:45)*** - No differences across bootlegs.
25. Astronauts (0:52)* - Also known as "Preparing For Launch". The first of two versions of the "Astronauts" cue.
26. The Launch (7:52)**/*** - No differences across bootlegs.
27. Rendezvous MIR (1:44)* - Also known as just "MIR", "Rendevouz With MIR", "Mir" or "Rendevous Mir" and other misspellings. Sometimes amended to the end of "The Launch".
28. Death Of MIR (1:53)* - Also known as "Death of MIR 1" and "Death of Mir". The commercial score version of this cue has an extended ten second intro, but is overall shorter than the bootleg version by twenty seconds. A version of this cue exists that adds the ten second intro to this longer version to make a two minute cue.
29. Fuel Pod (1:51)* - Also known as "Death Of MIR 2" and "Escape From MIR - Fuel Pod". No differences across bootlegs.
30. Radio Silence (1:16)* - Sometimes referred to as "Silence". No differences across bootlegs.
31. Asteroid Chase - The Shuttle Crash (6:53)* - Also known as "Burn Around The Moon - The Shuttle Crash" and just "Asteroid Chase". It is rumoured Hans Zimmer is responsible for scoring most of this cue. No differences across bootlegs.
32. Goodbye Independence (1:25)* - No differences across bootlegs.
33. Fallen Comrades (4:11)***** - ...complicated. The shorter version on most bootlegs is known as "Survivors". This version, taken from a Harry Gregson-Williams promo, has a full minute of music added at the beginning. The shorter version is sometimes also called "Fallen Comrades", just to confuse things further.

CD 2:

1. The Drilling Commences (3:00)* - Usually referred to as "The Drilling Commencing", "The Drilling Commencing (First Attempt To Dig)" and "The Drilling". The first of two versions of this cue.
2. Status Report (1:39)* - Also known as "Status Report (Drill Time Card)" and "57 Feet". No differences across bootlegs.
3. Secondary Protocol (8:29)* - A custom back cover lists an alternate excerpt of this cue running at one minute and thirty seconds; no evidence suggests that this excerpt exists. No differences across bootlegs.
4. Back In Business (1:38)*** - No differences across bootlegs.
5. Armadillo Jump (3:40)* - No differences across bootlegs.
6. Russian Hero (0:24)* - No differences across bootlegs.
7. Bad News (4:18)* - Also known as "Max Bites It". No differences across bootlegs.
8. A.J.'s Return (4:29)**/*** - The promo version of this cue is shortened by thirty seconds.
9. Rockstorm (3:39)* - No differences across bootlegs.
10. Short Straw (3:46)**/*** - Sometimes known as "Draw Straw". No differences across bootlegs.
11. Sacrifice - Goodbye Grace (2:32)* - Also known as "Long Distance Goodbye", although not to be confused with the 6 minute version on the commercial score. The first of two versions of this cue, being the alternate to the “Long Distance Goodbye” cue on the promo album.
12. Evacuation (3:44)*** - Also known as "Evacuation 1". The film inserted "Evacuation 2", otherwise known as "Remote Detonation", in the middle of this cue.
13. Remote Detonation (1:51)* - Also known as "Evacuation 2".
14. A Wing And A Prayer (5:18)** - No differences across bootlegs.
15. Returning Home (3:16)* - The theme for the official trailer. Also known as just "Trailer”.
16. America, The Beautiful (0:46)* - The theme for the teaser trailer played at the Super Bowl. Also known as just “Teaser Trailer”.
17. Meteor Shower (Alternate) (2:06)* - The second of two versions of the "Meteor Shower" cue.
18. Weightless Simulation (Alternate) (0:23)* - Whether this is an alternate to “Weightless Simulation – Dottie” or “Russian Hero” is unknown. Its placement on the tracklist suggests that it is an alternate to “Weightless Simulation – Dottie”. Needless to say, this track is also referred to as “Russian Hero (Alternate)”.
19. Astronauts (Alternate) (1:01)* - Also known as "Preparing For Launch (Alternate)". The second of two versions of the "Astronauts" cue.
20.The Drilling Commences (Alternate) (2:51)* - Usually referred to as "The Drilling Commencing (Alternate)", "The Drilling Commencing (First Attempt To Dig) (Alternate)" and "The Drilling (Alternate)". The second of two versions of this cue.
21. Sacrifice - Goodbye Grace (Alternate) (2:30)** - The second of two versions of this cue, specifically the “Long Distance Goodbye” cue on the promo album. Again, not to be confused with the six minute “Long Distance Goodbye” cue on the commercial album, which runs for six minutes and includes music from “A Wing And A Prayer”. Sometimes referred to as “Long-Distance Goodbye (Alternate)”.
22. Armageddon Piano (0:36)*** - Sometimes considered an alternate to “Love Nest”. Also known as "Love Nest (Alternate)".
23. Armageddon Suite (5:21)*** - A suite of music using themes from the film. No differences across bootlegs.
24. Theme From Armageddon (3:08)**** - Another suite of music, utilising themes from the film. No differences across bootlegs.
25. I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing (4:59)**** - The song performed by Steven Tyler that featured prominently in the film and promotional material.


SOURCES:

Filmtracks: Filmtracks: Armageddon (Trevor Rabin)
(http://www.filmtracks.com/titles/armageddon.html)
ffshrine: (drhousetapachula’s upload)
Thread 114237

(Yannis’ upload)
http://forums.ffshrine.org/f92/trevor-rabin-harry-gregson-williams-armageddon-complete-120687/#post2096928

hans-zimmer.com: (expanded score)
Hans-Zimmer.com - Armageddon (Expanded Score) (http://www.hans-zimmer.com/index.php?rub=disco&id=346)

(original soundtrack)
Hans-Zimmer.com - Armageddon (http://www.hans-zimmer.com/index.php?rub=disco&id=100)

(album)
Hans-Zimmer.com - Armageddon (Soundtrack) (http://www.hans-zimmer.com/index.php?rub=disco&id=755)

Wikipedia: Armageddon (1998 film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armageddon_(1998_film))


Download:



Armageddon Complete Score - Mediafire (http://www.mediafire.com/download/653f76fp62v6kmx/TR%26HGW_A_CS.rar)

Thank, GlassButterflies

Thank you!

Wow, nice! Now if only EVERY complete score thread was as detailed as this, it would be an almost-perfect world. Thanks for this, rep from me :)

You're right, i just noticed that thread, AWESOME details.. even Hz.com cannot do this for their fans... lol...thank you and.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Two thumbs up!

Thanks for the upload!

Thanks!

For some ungodly reason, 4shared absolutely refuses to let me have this. Asks for a log in. I created an account, but it still rejects any attempt to grab this. Now, it is a matter of principal, instead of just idle curiosity. Can anyone provide an alternative link?

I setup an account and it let me download using Google Chrome.

I just wanted to take this time to thank each and every one of you for your kind words, likes and rep! As many of you have deduced, the research and writing process for this project was a substantial undertaking, and the main incentive behind all of this is for the benefit of film score fans, such as myself, who may be utterly confused at the multitudes of releases for these scores. I'm just glad to see appreciation for my work.

My reply may be a little late, but I've added a mirror via Mega (most people seem to talk positively about that service) for those having trouble with 4shared. Hope you enjoy!

wow. I will give a listen. One of my favorite scores!

AMAZING! Lovely work! No edition I have heard has the insert in Zero Berrier (the "comet" theme with the electric guitar when the shuttles approach Dottie in Shuttle Crash). There is a slightly longer snippet of the theme between Leaving and Animal Crackers when we see Dottie approaching. Wow. I love this score. Great job everyone!!

Thank you very much for your hardwork! I'm gonna check it out!

thanks

I'm curious with this one. Thank you!

Hot effin damn. Thanks for sharing. Very awesome analysis on the music sourcing too.

BTW. The Mega link is "no longer available". FYI>

Thanks for this great one.

(although I highly recommend you go and thank him for the upload in the original thread here)
But you do also deserve thanks.
So: thank you for putting stuff together nicely!

Just grabbed the Yannis version, but saw your post and would also like to commend you on a job well done!

I agree that this should be the benchmark for all exhaustive complete releases!

Rep added!

Awesome share. Thank you! Mega link is no longer available tho.

UPDATE: With my Mega account nothing but dust in the wind, I've reuploaded to Mediafire and 4shared. However, this isn't just the same old upload as before! Check my original post for more details, and of course, I hope you're enjoying this rollercoaster of a score!

Thanks!!

Thank you GlassButterflies. Very much appreciated.

Thanks a lot

Jesus H. Christ!
I really appreciate the insane amount of work you put into this! Thank you very very much!

Thanks!

Many Thanks!

Just in regards to Disc 2 Track 18 "Weightless Simulation (Alternate)" this is the correct title for it and it is NOT an alternate version of "Russian Hero"

But also THANKS! GREAT SHARE!

REP sent a couple weeks ago!

Just in regards to Disc 2 Track 18 "Weightless Simulation (Alternate)" this is the correct title for it and it is NOT an alternate version of "Russian Hero"

Listening to both tracks you're most likely right. There isn't really a consensus on it though and all three tracks sound so similar that it probably doesn't matter either way. Feel free to rename yours though!

I guess I'm particular in that way but I had to check for myself and seeing all three tracks in Audacity confirmed it so I just had to rename it. That's just me though. :)


Listening to both tracks you're most likely right. There isn't really a consensus on it though and all three tracks sound so similar that it probably doesn't matter either way. Feel free to rename yours though!

Many thanks for the work you and others did, and for sharing it for the rest of us soundtrack fiends. ^_^

Listening to both tracks you're most likely right. There isn't really a consensus on it though and all three tracks sound so similar that it probably doesn't matter either way. Feel free to rename yours though!

Do you still have this? Mediafire seems to have flagged it. I have a 2h26min FLAC version and wanted to compare with yours since, Fallen Comrades, for one, I do not have.

---------- Post added at 10:12 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:44 AM ----------


Do you still have this? Mediafire seems to have flagged it. I have a 2h26min FLAC version and wanted to compare with yours since, Fallen Comrades, for one, I do not have.

Mmh... never mind. Page loads fine now. Weird :laugh:

Do you still have this? Mediafire seems to have flagged it. I have a 2h26min FLAC version and wanted to compare with yours since, Fallen Comrades, for one, I do not have.

---------- Post added at 10:12 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:44 AM ----------



Mmh... never mind. Page loads fine now. Weird :laugh:

Very weird indeed.

You'll find most bootleg version do not include "Fallen Comrades" but instead the abridged version labelled "Survivors". What a shame, really, because that opening part in "Fallen Comrades" is really good in my opinion. Really brings home the tragedy of what occurred in the previous cue.

You'll find most bootleg version do not include "Fallen Comrades" but instead the abridged version labelled "Survivors". What a shame, really, because that opening part in "Fallen Comrades" is really good in my opinion. Really brings home the tragedy of what occurred in the previous cue.

True, the original material of the "boot" didn't actually include that opening part, but thankfully it was on a HG-W compilation agency promo (as "Fallen Comrades"). A short edit that faded out though, but it could easily be edited together with the "Survivors".

Personally I kept the "Survivors" as is (and faded the "Fallen Comrades" into the beginning of that), since I liked the more presence of the "heartbeat-drum-hit" (sorry for the lack of a better musical term on that) on that vs. on the "Fallen Comrades", where it was mixed a bit lower.

Those supposedly shorter alternates you refer to in your analysis, Meteor Shower (track 3 CD1) and Secondary Protocol (track 3 CD2) could simply be referring to the excerpts of them that's on the same HG-W promo. Been a long time since I checked them out, but I don't think they're any different, other than just being short edits.

True, the original material of the "boot" didn't actually include that opening part, but thankfully it was on a HG-W compilation agency promo (as "Fallen Comrades"). A short edit that faded out though, but it could easily be edited together with the "Survivors".

Personally I kept the "Survivors" as is (and faded the "Fallen Comrades" into the beginning of that), since I liked the more presence of the "heartbeat-drum-hit" (sorry for the lack of a better musical term on that) on that vs. on the "Fallen Comrades", where it was mixed a bit lower.

Oh cool, I didn't know that. I'd love to get a hold of that to check out myself!


Those supposedly shorter alternates you refer to in your analysis, Meteor Shower (track 3 CD1) and Secondary Protocol (track 3 CD2) could simply be referring to the excerpts of them that's on the same HG-W promo. Been a long time since I checked them out, but I don't think they're any different, other than just being short edits.

Yeah, when I say 'alternate', in this case they're barely different. Almost to the point where they're more like different takes of the cue rather than alternate versions. But I know a lot of people are really completionist when it comes to their scores/soundtrack (I know I was back in the day) so they're included here.

Btw, I see you're a fellow fan of Klaus Badelt's 'The Time Machine' from your sig, such a shame we have two released versions of 'Good Night' and neither are the film version! I actually have a ripped version of that cue, the only SFX in it is the sound of cicadas and crackling fire, which actually adds to the atmosphere I think!

Hi there, can someone re-up the link or send it to me please. Thanks for putting so much work into this project!

Hi there, can someone re-up the link or send it to me please. Thanks for putting so much work into this project!

Mediafire link in first post still works. ;)

hey GlassButterflies the media link is down. Can you help please? thanks

hey GlassButterflies the media link is down. Can you help please? thanks

no...it is still working...if you get an error wait a bit and try again..eventually it will work...

Okay I downloaded it. Thanks.

thank you

Thank you!

Thank you! Awesome

A classic thanks! Dl this version now! Thanks again

Thanks for the share.